


Tell Me I'm Pretty

by Chrystie, exuberant_imperfection



Series: Hopeless Idiots in Love [2]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Established Relationship, Getting Together, M/M, Mostly Fluff, asexual kagami
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 06:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5195795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrystie/pseuds/Chrystie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/exuberant_imperfection/pseuds/exuberant_imperfection
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A companion fic of sorts to Collecting Smiles, explaining the side-Kagakise story.</p><blockquote>
  <p>Kagami hauled Kise back up from where he'd fallen and dropped him onto the couch, sitting down next to his head. “You’re pretty,” he grumbled, not meeting his eyes.</p>
  <p>Kise blinked a few times as he registered first that he was now lying on the couch looking up at Kagami, and secondly that Kagami had just called him pretty, and then a wide grin spread across his face. “Aww, Kagamicchi, how sweet!!! So you <i>do</i> think I’m fuckable!”</p>
</blockquote>
            </blockquote>





	Tell Me I'm Pretty

**Author's Note:**

> Some parts of this fic will be confusing if you haven't read "Collecting Smiles" (by exuberant_imperfection and kate882), so make sure you do that first! The first scene and the fifth scene are taken almost directly from that fic, with a few edits to shift them towards the Kagakise POV instead of the Aokuro one. Enjoy!!!

"You guys know you're in public, right? With people," Kagami said loudly, causing Kuroko to jump slightly and pull away from Aomine with a blush.

"I don't mind," Kise volunteered.

"You wouldn't," Kagami replied, side-eyeing Kise, who had been watching Aomine and Kuroko with mild fascination.

Kise turned to him with a fake-hurt look and an over-dramatic pout. "What? You can't tell me you're not even a _little_ bit jealous!"

"I'm definitely _not_ jealous," Kagami was saying, looking repulsed by the idea.

"Oh, come on. It'd make sense. Aominecchi is hot and Kurokocchi is adorable. I'd do it with either of them. Or both, but they keep saying no to that." Kise whined the last part, and Kuroko only felt mildly disgusted at this point.

"Kagami-kun isn't into sex," Kuroko told Kise before he could continue lamenting the tragedy that was his lack of a three way.

"Huh?" Kise looked at Kagami consideringly, Kagami looking mildly uncomfortable in the face of Kise's stare. "Yeah. That explains a lot," Kise decided before flashing a grin at Kagami. "So, I guess you really _are_ Seirin's ace."

Kagami groaned at the pun. "Have you been hanging out with Izuki-senpai?"

It took Kise a moment to put a face to the name, but he did remember Izuki. “Well, he’s not bad, but if I had to choose a point guard, it’d probably be Kasamatsu-senpai.” He shrugged. “Although, I flirt with him a _lot_ and he still just hits me all the time, so I’m pretty sure he’s straight.”

Aomine snorted. “Or he’s just not interested. That’s pretty likely.”

“ _Rude_ ,” Kise replied with a frown. “Have you _seen_ me? Who _wouldn’t_ be interested?”

“Me, for one,” Aomine said, raising his hand briefly and snickering at the look on Kise’s face.

"Yeah, but you've got Kurokocchi!" Kise protested, pointing at them when he noticed Kuroko scoot a bit closer to Aomine.

“True,” Aomine conceded, smiling down at Tetsu.

Kise then turned to Kagami. "Come on, Kagamicchi! You'd be interested in me if you were into sex, right? I'm totally fuckable!" That earned the attention of about half the restaurant, and a wolf whistle from one occupant.

Kagami almost choked on the bite of burger he’d just taken. “W-what the _hell_ kind of question is that? And why would you ask _me_?”

“Because I know _they’ll_ say no, and I don’t know anyone else here. So, you,” Kise explained as if it should have been obvious. “But, if you don’t wanna answer, I can just ask the restaurant at large. I mean, we might get kicked out if I did that though.”

“Yeah, no, don’t do that,” Kagami said, mildly alarmed. They’d attracted enough attention as it was.

“Please don’t, Kise-kun,” Kuroko chimed in.

Completely disregarding them, Kise stood up. "Come on, anyone? I'm fuckable, right?" he said loudly, holding his arms and gesturing at himself.

There was a loud gasp from across the restaurant, where a large table full of teenage girls were all hitting each other and pointing at him with excited whispers of, "Is that Kise Ryouta???"

Kise froze and waved perfunctorily with a smile plastered on his face. "Kagamicchi," he said with a quiet urgency, "don't make any sudden movements, but I need you to get up and walk out with me." The whispers were quickly turning to squeals as the girls began realizing that yes, it _was_ Kise Ryouta.

"What? Why?" Kagami asked, brows furrowed as he looked up and Kise... and then followed his gaze to the gaggle of fangirls across the room. "Oh _hell_ no."

"Ready to go play some one-on-one, Kagamicchi?" Kise said loudly with a bright smile, putting a hand on Kagami's shoulder.

"Wh—no?" Kagami spluttered in protest. "I'm not gonna—"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Eyebrows," Aomine said, snickering. "Unless you want every 14-year-old girl in Tokyo waiting for you outside your apartment tonight."

Kagami blanched.

Kise was still smiling at him, but the hand on his shoulder was gripping just a little tighter than necessary.

"I hate all of you," Kagami said with angrily narrowed eyes. He balled up all of his empty burger wrappers, chucked them into the nearest trash can, and then stood up to follow Kise out.

The girls began rushing to gather their things so they could follow. Kise swore under his breath and increased their pace.

"Rest in fucking pieces, Eyebrows!" Aomine called after them, laughing as Kagami flipped him off briefly before disappearing out the door.

* * *

“Where the hell are we going? And why do I have to go with you?”

Kise looked over his shoulder to check the position of the fangirls, and began walking faster. “Ummm… because… you were there?”

“So were Kuroko and Aomine. Why am I the sacrifice?” If he wasn’t too busy running from raging fangirls, he would have been strangling Kise right about now.

“Well it’s not like either of them was going to say yes! And you were sitting right next to me!” They reached an intersection, and Kise grabbed his arm to drag him around the corner.

“And what the fuck am I gonna do to help? I’m more tempted to push you to them and let you suffer.” Kagami could still hear their screams, whether they were of excitement or anger, he couldn’t tell, but regardless, he had a feeling that if he threw Kise to them, Kise would come back with a lot less clothing.

“No, Kagamicchi, you have to protect me!!!” Kise objected, keeping his hold on Kagami’s arm in case he tried to run for it. “Until we get to… um. Somewhere!”

“You don’t know where we’re going.” Kagami was honestly not even surprised anymore. “Can’t we like, hide at someone’s house or like in a park or something?”

“I don’t live anywhere near here!” Kise wracked his brain to think of anyone else he knew who lived in the area, but he could only think of Kuroko, and he was clearly not home at the moment. “...How fast can you climb a tree?”

“What?! I am _not_ climbing a tree. We’re gonna end up getting stuck there when your fangirls surround it.” Kagami had been hoping to not have to extend help past his comfort zone, but it was either that or climbing a fucking tree like a stupid squirrel. “My place is pretty close to here. We can go there, but you are _not_ staying over.”

Kise grinned, relieved. “Kagamicchi! You DO care!!!” he exclaimed, crying a few fake tears and clinging tighter to his arm.

Kagami shook his arm slightly to try get Kise to loosen up his hold, which worked as well as it would have if he had done nothing at all. “Loosen up a bit before I decide I don’t care.” Regardless, Kagami looked from around the corner to check if there were any signs of fans and pulled Kise in the direction of his apartment.

Kise let go of his arm with a smirk. He stayed unnecessarily close to Kagami as they walked so that he could speak in a low, velvety tone. “I'll loosen up for you anytime, Kagamicchi.”

Kagami felt heat rise to his cheeks and quickly jumped away to put a good two feet between him and Kise. “Don’t do that!” Kagami needed to take a few seconds to calm down his blush before he could look away from his shoes but he still couldn’t really look Kise in the eyes. “Why am I stuck with you again? Why am I helping you?! I should sacrifice you to your army of teen demons!”

Kise laughed at his embarrassment, then shrugged. “I guess you could choose to do that. But then I might just choose to tell them all about Kagami Taiga and how mean he was to me and where he goes to school and that he lives somewhere nearby…” He drifted off with a sweet smile.

Kagami let out a frustrated groan. “I’m killing you if we make it back to my house.” He didn’t completely rule out the possibility of Kise’s fangirls possibly getting to them first.

Kise pouted and was about to object when a squeal came from behind them, and they turned to see a single fangirl pointing at them and calling out, “He's over here!!!” Several more screams from various directions and distances answered her.

“They split up. They’re evolving,” Kise whispered in horror. He grabbed Kagami's wrist and began sprinting. “Quick, Kagamicchi! Which way???”

Kagami’s eyes widened at the sudden speed, stumbling a bit but managed to catch himself before he got a face full of cement. “Uhh, go straight.”

* * *

Kagami shoved Kise through the front door, almost falling from the force as they stumbled in. The fangirls had almost caught up to them twice during their run. “How the fuck do you ever leave your house when you have that stupid mob stalking you?” Kagami panted as he locked the door.

“Well, they're not _always_ that bad,” Kise replied, kicking off his shoes and practically collapsing on Kagami's couch, also out of breath. “Most of them will at least, like, form a line or something. Some of them even know the word ‘please’. And the concept of personal space.” He laid his head back and stared at the ceiling with a contradictory expression of both fear and fondness.

Kagami collapsed down next to him, mimicking his action of staring up at the ceiling. “Yeah, well now they’ve got you trapped in my apartment. They sure sound great,” Kagami bit out sarcastically. “When do you think they’ll get tired and leave?”

Kise laughed nervously. “Uh… usually I'd say an hour or two, but the more, um… enthusiastic ones… Well, let's just say, the longest stakeout was almost forty-eight hours. And they only left because we called the police.”

Kagami’s eyes narrowed as he shifted his gaze towards Kise. “I’m kicking you out at midnight.” He didn’t want to be under house arrest from excited teenage girls for two whole fucking days.

“Awww, Kagamicchi…” Kise whined dramatically. “You mean you don’t want me around? So mean!!!”

“You being around is why we’re stuck here in the first place,” Kagami grumbled. “Why did you have to ask the entire restaurant if you were fuckable?” Kagami felt himself die a bit just from saying the godawful word.

Kise pouted. “Well, none of _you_ were answering me. How _else_ was I supposed to find out?”

“By not asking an entire restaurant of potential fangirls. And you should’ve expected _me_ to not answer.” Kagami reached for a couch pillow and debated throwing it at Kise before deciding to just cover his face with it in annoyance.

“Okay, but…” Kise sat up and turned to face Kagami, brow furrowed in mild confusion. “I mean, that’s just the sex part, right? Couldn’t you at least tell me I’m pretty?”

Kagami moved the pillow slightly off his face to turn incredulous eyes onto Kise. “I’m leaving.” He got up and headed towards his room, closing the door behind him.

“Kagamicchi!!!” Kise exclaimed, getting up and jumping over the back of the couch. “Come ba—ACK.” He cut off with a yelp as he landed on the ground the wrong way, causing him to trip and fall on his face.

Kagami ignored the yelp and loud thud to calm himself down. He exited the room a minute later to find Kise still on the ground, not that he expected anything less from Kise. He hauled Kise back up and dropped him onto the couch, sitting down next to his head. “You’re pretty,” Kagami grumbled, not meeting his eyes.

Kise blinked a few times as he registered first that he was now lying on the couch looking up at Kagami, and secondly that Kagami had just called him pretty, and then a wide grin spread across his face. “Aww, Kagamicchi, how sweet!!! So you _do_ think I’m fuckable!”

Kagami's face grew bright red. “I didn't say that! I said you were pretty! I thought that was obvious!” If anything, his own words just made his blush grow even more. He had no doubt that he was starting to resemble a tomato.

“Well, it is,” Kise conceded, and he might have just laughed and left it at that, but he was rather more endeared by Kagami’s blushing face than he expected. So he added, “It does mean more coming from someone who isn’t literally paying me to be pretty, though.”

If Kagami couldn’t look Kise in the eyes before, he definitely couldn’t look in his general direction at all by now. “Stop looking at me like that,” he muttered, placing a hand over Kise’s eyes, hoping it would give him some peace.

The first thought that popped into Kise’s head was _Ooooooh, kinky~_ , and he was having a pretty good time playing “fluster the ace” with Kagami, but with the way his heart seemed to skip a beat at Kagami’s warm touch, he felt maybe a different approach was warranted. He wrapped a hand around Kagami’s wrist, pulled it away from his eyes, and pressed a kiss into his palm, still looking up at him.

Kagami turned shocked eyes to Kise, spluttering out a string of words and noises he wasn’t fully sure were supposed to make a sentence. “I—you—what the—huh?” He settled for just keeping his mouth shut and just staring at Kise incredulously, forgetting to pull his hand away in his shock.

A grin pulled at Kise’s lips, but it was a little different from his previous ones, a little softer, a little warmer. “Interesting. That’s the least negative reaction you’ve had so far,” he observed, absentmindedly running a thumb over the quickening pulse in Kagami’s wrist.

Kagami managed to somehow string together enough words to form a sentence from his still very confused mind. “It is negative! What the hell are you doing?!”

“Is it, though?” Kise arched an eyebrow at him. “You haven’t moved your hand yet…”

At the reminder that Kagami’s hand was, indeed, still in Kise’s grasp, he quickly yanked it away. “Shut up! I-I was distracted.” He ignored the fact that he kind of missed the warmth from Kise’s hand.

“I know, I’m a distracting person,” Kise said with a wink, sitting up. “If I distracted you enough, do you think you’d let me stay past midnight?”

Kagami’s eyes turned curious yet somewhat scared. “What do you mean by distract me?” He had a feeling he was going to regret asking that.

“Well… it’s kinda like me kissing your hand…” Kise began, swivelling around, throwing his legs over Kagami’s lap, and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. “But a lot more. And not just hands.”

Kagami tensed at the feel of Kise’s legs and arms on him. “Y-you know what? I’m kinda hungry. Are you hungry? I’m gonna make something,” he said, faster than what would probably be considered convincing. He pushed Kise’s legs off him and managed to break free from his arms and ran to the kitchen as fast as he could. He stuck his head in the fridge hoping he could play it off as looking for ingredients rather than what he was trying to do, which was cool down his heated face.

Kise laughed and got up to follow him. Upon entering the kitchen and seeing him with his head hidden in the fridge, he quietly snuck up right behind him, stood as close as possible without actually touching him, and asked loudly, “What’re you making, Kagamicchi?”

Kagami jumped, hitting his head on the fridge. Deeming his face to be considerably less warm, he pulled it out from the fridge to rub the sore spot on the back of his head and turned around to find Kise very, very close to him. “Uh…” He felt his face heat up again. “Could you, I don’t know, back off a little?”

“Oh, well, since you asked nicely…” Kise took a tiny step back, a sweet smile on his face, still only inches away from Kagami. “A little.”

Kagami could feel his eyebrow twitch slightly. “How about you try a bit more?” He pressed a hand against Kise’s chest, pushing him further away from him to give himself some breathing room.

Kise allowed Kagami to push him back a few more inches, and then stopped, leaning all of his weight against Kagami’s hand. “There you go, a bit more.” His smile was turning into a smirk.

“Kise, what the fuck?” He brought his other hand to Kise’s chest to keep him from falling onto him. “Why are you here pissing me off again? Can’t you take a hint?”

Kise hummed consideringly, smirk turning suggestive. “Depends, what kind of hint are y—”

“No! No, stop! Don’t finish whatever the hell it is you’re gonna say.” Kagami put more force in his efforts to push Kise away. Getting at least a few feet between them Kagami turned around again to pull out ingredients from the fridge and place them on the counter. “You want something to eat too?” He tried to change the subject.

Kise gave up for the moment, hoisting himself up to sit on the counter across from the fridge and beaming down at him. “Kagamicchi’s gonna cook for me??? How romantic~”

“I’m gonna throw this fucking sandwich at your face and see how romantic that is,” Kagami muttered, using up an entire loaf of bread.

“Well that would be a waste,” Kise said with a pout. “You should just make me a sandwich instead.”

“Yeah, yeah, here.” Kagami thrust a plate with a sandwich on it into Kise’s hands, before going back to making his own stack.

Kise took a few bites of his sandwich, humming in contentment as he discovered it was quite delicious, and watched Kagami make another. He waited until Kagami had just taken his first bite to say, “Wow, Kagamicchi, you’re really good with your hands.”

Kagami almost choked on his sandwich, coughing a few times before finally swallowing it. “Why?!” He got a glass and filled it water, taking large gulps from it. “Can’t we just eat in silence?”

“That wouldn’t be as fun!” Kise replied with a winning grin, then continued eating.

“I think it would be fucking fantastic. Why are you doing this again?” Kagami finished his first sandwich and moved onto his next one, taking a large bite out of it.

Kise raised his eyebrows, and adopted a wide-eyed innocent look. “Doing what?”

“The whole flirty, touchy thing.” Kagami made a vague gesture with his hand as if it would help emphasize his point.

“Weeelllllll…” Kise began with a mischievous grin, but then realized he wasn’t quite sure what to say. And then he thought for a moment, and the honest answer came to mind, and he _really_ hadn’t been planning to say it out loud, until he felt his face take on a pinkish tinge and so he figured, _might as well_. “...You never did answer my question.”

“What question?” Kagami quirked a forked brow. He put his sandwich down so he could concentrate more on Kise than his food, realizing that Kise might be planning on broaching an actual serious topic, considering his blush.

“If… if um, you think I’m fuckable,” Kise said, and then realized that that probably didn’t explain anything. “Uh—well, you kinda did answer? But I was—I meant—I didn’t mean—um…” he stuttered, getting a little flustered as he wasn’t completely sure how to explain what he was trying to say.

Kagami’s face fell in complete disappointment. He wasn’t sure whether to just pick up his sandwich and ignore Kise or spare him some sympathy for how flustered he was. He ended up settling for neither. “Why does it matter so much that it comes from me? Couldn’t you like text someone like Takao the same thing? He’d actually give you an answer.”

Kise pointed at him, his eyes slightly widened in realization. “No, no, I can’t!” he exclaimed, then took a moment to word it. “Um, because… it’s not about the answer! It’s about the—it’s about the, uh. You.” He looked at Kagami, but then suddenly felt sheepish about what he’d said and looked away, hoping that his face getting warmer didn’t mean he was getting redder.

Kagami felt his face heat up again, his embarrassment mirroring Kise’s. “Why me specifically?” Kagami had a feeling he already knew but wanted to continue pretending he didn’t at least for a little bit longer. It made things easier.

Kise drew one leg up, hugging it to his chest and resting his chin on his knee. “Becaaause… you’re, uh… you’re Kagamicchi? And—and I like Kagamicchi.” He grinned brightly through his embarrassment.

Kagami felt his pulse speed up and he could no longer meet Kise’s eyes. “A-and you tried to show me that through dumb excessive amounts of touching and shit?”

“Well, _yeah_ ,” Kise said with a laugh. “Like there’s any other way?”

“I don’t know, like a more normal way?” Kagami wasn’t really sure what a more normal way would be but it had to be something other than constantly needing to touch him.

“Oh yeah?” Kise objected, mildly affronted by Kagami's assessment of his social skills. “Well then, how do _you_ think I should be doing it?”

 _Dammit_. Kagami had been hoping that Kise wouldn’t have the mind to ask him because he really didn’t know how to answer that, “I-uh-I mean… there are ways to flirt without almost sitting in my lap. You could’ve just told me, too...” His words faded into a mumble as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

Kise leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand and looking at Kagami with amusement, any irritation having been short-lived. “You sure don't think about this stuff much, huh?”

“Well no. Never really thought I’d need to.” As much as Kagami wanted to be upset at Kise for enjoying his embarrassment, he couldn’t help but kind of understand where Kise was coming from. If he were in Kise’s position, watching his clueless crush, he’d be pretty amused too.

Kise laughed. “Aww, did Kagamicchi not think anyone would ever like him???”

“Shut up!” It was more that Kagami had never thought he’d need to care about anything other than food and basketball. He definitely didn’t think the addition to the list of things he needed to care about was going to be a person who liked him.

Kise snorted, but then something occurred to him, and folded his hands in his lap, tapping his thumbs together uncertainly. “Wait, so… you’re—um… are you not into _any_ kind of, uh, relationshippy stuff…?” _That sure would be awkward._

“Well… no, not exactly,” Kagami awkwardly scratched the back of his head. “I’m okay with a relationship.” Kagami would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about being in one a couple of times, he just didn’t think he’d have to care about anything past a theoretical one. “I-I’m fine with shit like kissing a-and cuddling and stuff like that.” Kagami hadn’t realized it was possible for his face to grow any redder than it already was, which it apparently could. He probably looked like a tomato by now.

Kise’s smile widened as Kagami spoke, and he was grinning brightly by the end. “Great! Then we can go on a date!”

Kagami’s eyes widened. He grabbed at Kise’s collar, his teeth gritting as he spoke, “We can what?”

“...Go on a date!” Kise repeated with a little giggle as Kagami’s dramatic reaction.

“Who says we’re going on a date? I never agreed to that.” Kagami frowned deeply, forgetting about the small amount of space between them.

Kise sighed. “Okay, okay. Kagamicchi…” he began, pulling Kagami’s hand away from his collar and holding it with both of his own. “... _Will_ you go on a date with me?”

“You’re asking like its a dumb proposal,” Kagami muttered, not able to look Kise in the eyes.

“Well, it’s not marriage, it’s a date! And you don’t get to say it’s dumb until after,” Kise protested. Then he winked. “Though I’m sure you won’t, I’m a pretty great date.”

“I don’t think I can believe that,” Kagami grumbled, before sighing. He wasn’t too sure if a date was a good idea, wasn’t even sure if he wanted to go on one, but the night had given him more revelations than he ever thought he’d wanted and doing nothing probably wouldn’t help him figure any of those revelations out. Hesitantly, Kagami nodded. “Fine.”

Kise was pouting at the insult, so he almost missed the last, most important part. But the moment he realized he had said yes, he whooped in delight and launched himself at Kagami, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and throwing his legs around his waist.

Kagami let out a yelp of surprise, his arms instinctively wrapping around Kise to support his weight. He stumbled a bit but managed to keep his balance. “Kise, what the fuck?!” In his surprise at having to hold up Kise, he failed to notice where his hands rested.

“Sorry!” Kise said, not sounding apologetic at all. “I'm just so excited!!!” He leaned back just enough to be able to look at Kagami, hands on his shoulders. “What do you wanna do??? Dinner? A movie? Long romantic walk on the beach???”

“We are _not_ going to a damn beach.” Kagami would rather die than tell people his first date was a cliche, over-romanticized way to get sand up his asscrack.

“We could walk in the park then! Or amusement park? Ooh!!! Aquarium!” Kise continued enthusiastically, not discouraged by Kagami’s negativity.

“I...uh...aquarium maybe?” Kagami said unsurely. That seemed like the best place out of all the options Kise listed. Parks meant possible dogs, while the amusement park made him nauseous. The aquarium definitely sounded the safest.

“Great! Then it's a date!” Kise said with a bright grin… which turned sly as he added, “You know, it's pretty nice to know that ass-groping doesn't count as sexual, just saying.”

Kagami was confused by Kise’s words until realization of where his hands were finally dawned on him. His cheeks flushed and he quickly moved his hands up higher to rest on the middle of Kise’s back. “Shut up! It was an accident! You’re the one who decided to jump me! You planning on ever letting go, by the way?” Kagami’s arms and legs were starting to feel tired from keeping Kise up but he sure as hell wasn’t going to sit down with Kise still stuck to him like this. He was definitely not going to sit the blond asshole right onto his lap, especially when he was taking every little thing Kagami did as flirting.

Kise hummed consideringly. “Depends, is Kagamicchi going to drop me?” he asked, tightening his hold on Kagami just a little.

“Probably.” And by probably he meant absolutely. Kise was fucking heavy, he was gonna drop Kise regardless of whether or not he wanted to keep holding him, which Kagami told himself he very much didn’t.

“No fun,” Kise accused with a pout, but released Kagami, taking a step back and lifting himself  up onto the counter behind him again.

“Yeah, well screw you and your chiseled ass, you were fucking heavy. You’re sleeping on the couch tonight.” Kagami turned back to his food more as a reason to not look at Kise after his admission of allowing Kise to stay.

Kise blinked, then beamed at Kagami when he realized that he wasn't being kicked out at midnight anymore. “...So what I'm hearing is, you want to screw my chiseled ass, and you'd let me sleep in your bed if I wasn't so heavy?” he teased with a shit-eating grin.

“No!” Kagami blushed bright red, swivelling around on his heel to jab a finger in Kise’s direction. “You’re keeping your ass on the couch and away from me!” Kagami was just about ready to bury himself alive from how much embarrassment he had faced throughout the night, and it wasn’t even over yet.

“...Would you change you mind if I told you that you also have a chiseled ass? Because you do, it's very nice,” Kise said with a wink.

“Don’t make me regret letting you stay,” Kagami groaned. He took a quick glance at the clock on the wall and eloquently thought _fuck it_. He was going to end the night early. “C’mon, I got spare stuff that you can use for the night.”

Kise raised his eyebrows. “Stuff?” he said, dragging out the word suggestively.

Kagami led Kise towards his supply closet, rummaging through it for things for Kise. “Yeah, like a tooth… No, not that kind of stuff! Jesus Christ, Kise!”

Kise’s cackle of amusement turned into a yelp of surprise when Kagami threw a towel at his face. “Kagamicchi…” he whined as he pulled the towel off. “...If you were into blindfolds you could have just _told_ me, jeez.”

“Y’know I’m starting to think that aquarium trip is never gonna happen. I’m probably gonna end up killing you before the night’s over.” Kagami refused to call it a date just yet. It was way too embarrassing.

“You can’t just kill me before we go on our date, Kagamicchi, that’s _rude_ ,” Kise chastised, tossing the towel back at him.

Kagami caught it with one hand and stuffed it back into the cabinet, too lazy to fold it like it had been originally. “You’re giving me a lot of reasons to do it though,” Kagami muttered mostly to himself. He grabbed the spare, unused toothbrush from the back of the cabinet, the whole reason he opened it in the first place, and handed it to Kise. “You can borrow some of my clothes to sleep in if you want.”

“That’s alright, I prefer to sleep in the nude,” Kise replied, completely serious this time, as he accepted the toothbrush.

Kagami stared at Kise dumbfounded. “Please tell me you’re kidding.” Kise continued to look completely serious. “Oh _fuck no!_ You are _not_ sleeping naked here, I will force pants onto you if I have to!”

Kise blinked a few times, and was about to begin obnoxiously lamenting the idea of not being allowed to sleep naked, when suddenly the idea of _wearing Kagami’s clothes_ sank in. He grinned. “Well… if you _insist_ … I’d _love_ to get in your pants, Kagamicchi!”

“I probably _will_ end up killing you before the night’s over.” Kagami turned towards his room, taking a minute to rummage around his closet and threw a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt at Kise. “Spare me some sanity and change somewhere _not_ in front of me.”

Kise pouted but acquiesced, asking where the bathroom was and heading there to change. He came back a few minutes later with his teeth brushed, his face washed, and wearing Kagami’s clothes, which fit him almost perfectly (except for the shirt being one size bigger than Kise preferred to wear).

Kagami laid out a blanket and pillow for Kise on the couch after changing himself. Upon seeing Kise leave the bathroom, he was inwardly thankful that Kise was actually wearing the clothes. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t expected Kise to just strip down to nothing and walk around his apartment like that. “Call me if you need _actually_ need anything. I’ll be in my room. And don’t join me!”

“Okay~” Kise singsonged as he settled down onto the couch. “Sweet dreams, Kagamicchi!”

And then he went to sleep, he really, truly did, so at least Kagami couldn’t accuse him of not _trying_ to spend the whole night on the couch, he told himself. But Kise was a rather restless sleeper—did all sorts of weird stuff in his sleep—so around two in the morning, he was jolted awake when he rolled off of the sofa and hit the ground, pulling the pillow and blanket down with him. He lay there for a minute, groaning and mumbling incoherently, before he pushed himself to his feet and looked around, remembering after a few more minutes that he was at Kagami’s place.

“Kagamicchi…” he whined sleepily, and without really thinking about it, began shuffling over to Kagami’s room. At some point along the way, he realized he was only half-clothed, but in his current state he was more confused by the fact that he was actually wearing pants than by the fact that he _wasn’t_ wearing a shirt.

He opened Kagami’s door and said his name again, but received no response, and his sleep-addled brain took that as a blanket approval for his actions. So, he climbed into Kagami’s bed, snuggled up under the covers, and sighed in contentment as he drifted back off to sleep.

Kagami woke up to a heavy weight on top of him. When he opened his eyes, the only thing his sleep-addled brain could register at first was that he felt much warmer than he had going to bed and that there was blond hair tickling his nose. It took him a few minutes to process the information he had registered and almost had a heart attack once he did. “What the fuck?! Why the—?! What the hell?!” He couldn’t even move in the position they were in, Kise being literally on top of him.

He raised his arm up to smack Kise in the back, the only part of Kise he could really reach that wasn’t his ass, to get him to wake up only to realize his hand had connected with bare skin. “Oh, for fuck’s sake, let this be a fucking dream.” Not that dreaming of having a naked Kise sleeping on top of him made him feel that much better.

Kise jolted awake—well, into consciousness, anyway. “Awake” was perhaps not the best word to describe it. He lifted his head, and grinned sleepily when he recognized the face that belonged to the warm body he'd been sleeping on. “‘Morning, Kagamicchi. You're comfy,” he said, his voice soft and scratchy from sleep, and then he laid his head back down on Kagami's chest.

Kagami was fully ready to scream Kise’s ear off—that was, until Kise actually spoke. He felt small bits of his anger melt away just from Kise’s dumb smile, which didn’t really mean anything, or at least that’s what he told himself. Inwardly cursing at how soft he was being, he decided on a different approach on how to deal with their problem (well, it was more his problem than Kise’s considering Kise seemed to actually like sleeping on him). In what was more a grumble than the quiet voice he was hoping for, he brought up the topic that he deemed most important at the moment. “Please tell me you’re still wearing pants.” Kagami was sure as hell not going to check for himself.

Kise hummed thoughtfully as he first tried to process the question, and then tried to ascertain the answer. “Ummmm… I… don't know? I hope not, I hate pants,” he mumbled eventually.

Kagami groaned in annoyance, letting his head fall back against his pillow. “That wasn't the answer I wanted.” Kise was going to drive him insane. They laid there in silence for a few minutes before Kagami decided to ask about the second topic plaguing his mind. “Why are you sleeping on top of me?”

“Ummm…” Kise tried to remember how this had happened, but it was all a blur. “I… woke up and… fell off the couch? And then I came here, and I fell asleep in your bed… I dunno why.”

Kagami stared at Kise for a few seconds, feeling a mix between annoyance and resignation. “Well,” he sighed, “you gonna get off?”

“Mmmmmm… no.” Kise really was quite comfy. Kagami was warm, and the steady rise and fall of his chest along with the faint sound of his heartbeat was comforting. He sighed contentedly.

Kagami sighed again. If this last attempt didn’t work, he was going to flip Kise off of him. “Didn’t you want to go on that d-date?” Kagami felt his face grow three shades darker and wanted to die a bit at just the word.

Kise’s eyes shot open and he lifted his head to give Kagami another crooked, sleepy grin. “Let’s go _right now!_ ”

“ _Now_?! It’s like—” Kagami took a quick glance at the clock. “—ass o’clock in the morning! The aquarium doesn’t even open for another hour. And you’re still naked!” Kagami wasn’t going anywhere until he was sure Kise was wearing pants.

“That’s fine! It’ll take me at _least_ an hour to get ready.” Kise’s smile grew wider, and he felt himself finally waking up properly. “Can I use your shower?”

“An _hour_? What the fuck do you do for an hour?” From what Kagami could see with his limited range of view, Kise looked exactly the same as he always did. What the hell took an hour?

Kise crossed his arms over Kagami’s chest, propping himself up slightly. “Beauty takes _time_ , Kagamicchi!”

Kagami's brows knit together in confusion,“But… You look exactly the same right now as you always do...” The only difference Kagami could see at all was that Kise's hair was just slightly messier than usual.

Kise stared at him with blank confusion for a moment before his face brightened with a big smile—not a shit-eating grin or a smirk, a real smile—and he rested his head on his arms, looking up at Kagami through his lashes. “Kagamicchi thinks I'm pretty _all_ the time?” He hadn't really meant it as a question, it had just come out that way.

If Kagami wasn’t already confused, he sure as hell was now. What the hell did he do that warranted…. _this_ reaction from Kise. Kise looked _genuinely happy_ and Kagami had a feeling he was gonna fuck that up with anything else that he said so he just agreed. “Yes? Just go shower already.” He could make breakfast while Kise got ready.

With some difficulty, Kise turned the smile into a pout as he teased, “Whaaaat, you don't wanna join me?”

“Not even a little bit. Now get off me, you’re heavy.” Kagami was tempted to push Kise off, but figured he might get an eye full of of naked if he did which he _really_ didn’t want.

Kise sighed dramatically. “So cruel, Kagamicchi…” he protested, but slowly rolled off of him and headed towards the bathroom, grabbing his gym bag on the way.

To Kagami’s displeasure, Kise really was completely naked. He felt himself die a little realizing that they had slept together all night with Kise not wearing anything.

* * *

It had taken Kise two hours to get ready. _Two. Fucking. Hours._ Along with that, Kise insisted on going home to get a better change of clothes for their date after they found that the fangirls had thankfully left. In total, it had taken them three whole hours to get ready and get to the aquarium and by then, Kagami was already exhausted. “I can’t fucking believe you use makeup. I can’t fucking believe you keep a makeup bag _in your gym bag_.”

“It pays to be prepared at all times, Kagamicchi,” Kise said sagely. “I’m a model, I can’t just _not_ have a way to make myself pretty at all times.”

“I really don’t understand. You look the exact same without makeup.” It wasn’t like Kise did his makeup like women did so that it was noticeably colourful. What was the point of it when Kise already had near-perfect skin and naturally accentuated eyes?

Kise patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay, Kagamicchi, you don’t have to understand. Feel free to keep saying really sweet things like that, though, that’s fine,” he said with a grin and a laugh.

Kagami still wasn’t sure what Kise meant. He didn’t think he was saying anything particularly sweet. He didn’t even really think he was being particularly nice. “Whatever,” Kagami mumbled. “Why did you want to go to the aquarium? You into sea life?” Although Kagami preferred the aquarium over the zoo. Zoos were just cages for big, various breeds of dogs and he sure as hell wasn’t going to deal with that.

“The fish are pretty, sure,” Kise said with a shrug. “But also it’s nice and cool in there, and it’s indoors so I won’t get sunburned, which—well, my modeling manager wouldn’t be happy if that happened.”

“You care too much about your looks and I don’t really think you need to.” This time Kagami could clearly see how cheesy he was being and his cheeks may have tinted red just slightly.

Kise glanced at him and giggled a little at the blush on his face. “I mean, I _do_ kinda get paid to care too much about my looks, but thanks anyway, Kagamicchi~” he singsonged, loosely clinging to Kagami’s arm.

Kagami grunted in response, still too embarrassed to do much more. They roamed around the aquarium taking in the different creatures around them and despite Kise’s words about the fish just being pretty, he seemed enchanted by them, frequently going closer to the glass to get a better look at them with mesmerized eyes and large smile. By the third or so time Kise did it, Kagami came to the embarrassing realization that he was spending more time staring at Kise than the fish. Tearing his gaze away from him before he noticed, Kagami tried to keep his focus on the creatures behind the glass, but every time Kise detached from him to practically press his face up against the glass, Kagami found himself watching that ridiculously charming smile.

When Kise finally noticed, his smile lingered far after he was done admiring the fish. “I’m not part of the exhibit, you know, Kagamicchi,” he teased, turning quickly to catch him staring.

“Wha—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kagami embarrassedly muttered and tore his gaze away from Kise, looking at anything but him.

“I think you do~” Kise sing-songed, stepping closer, and then decided to have mercy for once and drop the subject. He reached out to grab Kagami’s hand and lace their fingers together, and then began to drag him towards the next exhibit. “Come on, I think they have sharks in this room!!!”

Kagami didn’t even feel his face grow warm anymore and he was almost positive that the blush was now just a permanent part of his face, or at least it was with Kise around. He let Kise drag him around from exhibit to exhibit with a firm but not painful grasp on his hand and it came as a bit of a surprise to him that he really didn’t mind having Kise pull him around for the day.

“That was fun, Taigacchi!” Kise said happily as they left the aquarium. “We should do this again sometime!”

Kagami choked on his own breath. “Ta-Taigicchi?!” he spluttered out. “Since when was that a thing?!”

“Siiiince… just now?” Kise answered, looking up at Kagami with just the barest hint of uncertainty.

“O-oh. I, uh—I like it?” Kagami wasn’t really sure if he actually did, but he didn’t hate it so he supposed it was fine if Kise wanted to call him that. “I don’t think I’m gonna start calling you Ryouta yet though.”

Kise nodded, but also grinned slyly at him. “You said ‘yet’ though. Does that mean you wanna go on another date with me~?”

“I didn’t say that!” Kagami replied probably a little too quickly which he knew Kise caught.  

“But do you?” Kise asked, leaning closer.

Kagami awkwardly scratched the back of his head, not able to meet Kise’s eyes as he spoke. “I—well—I guess I wouldn’t hate going on another...” Which was the closest to saying yes Kagami would ever get.

Kise beamed at him. “Great! Let’s go to the movies sometime this week!”

Kagami wasn’t even surprised that Kise already had something in mind for another date. At least with a movie people wouldn’t be able to see if Kise tried to be over-affectionate, not that it made it any better that Kise would be overly affectionate in public. “I guess that’s fine… What do you wanna watch?”

“Hmm…” Kise thought for a moment, then came up with an idea that he was sure would make Kagami happy. “How about we play some one-on-one and the winner decides?”

Kagami’s eyes instantly lit up and a smile stretched out over his lips at the mention of basketball. “Sounds like the best thing you’ve said all day. Hope you’re ready to lose.”

Now it was Kise’s turn to stare, admiring the fiery look in Kagami’s eyes as he grinned back. “Bring it on!”

* * *

Kagami and Kise were just about to buy snacks for the movie when they heard an unfortunately familiar voice from behind them.

“Oi, Kise!” Aomine called, approaching them. “I know you’re kinda desperate, but _really?_ Eyebrows?”

“A-Aominecchi? Kurokocchi? What are you guys doing here?” Kise asked, looking between them.

Aomine raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m on a date, duh. And judging by Eyebrows’ face, so are you,” he said with a smirk.

Kagami could feel that his face was, in fact, _very_ red, and he kind of wanted to sink through the floor and disappear, but he tried valiantly to cover up his embarrassment with anger. “It’s none of your business, asshole. Go away,” he snapped.

“Hey, hey, no need for the attitude, Eyebrows,” Aomine said, fighting back laughter. “I’m just kinda curious though, what brought this on? Was running from Kise’s fangirls together really such a profound bonding experience?”

“Aominecchi, don’t be mean to Taigacchi,” Kise complained, unembarrassedly putting an arm around Kagami’s waist.

“Kagami-kun, why didn’t you mention this to me?” Kuroko piped up quietly from beside Aomine.  

Kagami didn’t pull away from Kise’s arm, but he did manage to turn an even deeper shade of red, a surly expression fixed on his face even as he stumbled through a reply to Kuroko. “I—uh—you didn’t—um. It… never came up?”

“I asked what you were doing today when I told you about my date with Aomine-kun,” Kuroko reminded him, shoulders slumping.

Aomine draped an arm over Kuroko’s shoulders protectively and scowled at Kagami. “What’s your problem, asshole? It’s one thing to keep your weird-ass relationship on the down-low, but _lying to Tetsu?_ That’s not okay.”

Kagami scowled right back. He would have told Kuroko about it _eventually_ , but this whole… _thing_ with Kise had happened so suddenly, and he’d wanted a little more time to figure it out before talking about it to other people. Running into Kuroko and Aomine and having them just find out about it randomly was _not_ what he’d wanted—he felt frustrated and uncomfortable, like he’d been backed into a corner. So he wasn’t really in a state of mind to realize that it was a bad idea to retaliate with, “Oh, so _you’re_ gonna lecture _me_ on how to treat Kuroko?”

Kise froze, eyes widened. He glanced over at Aomine before he grabbed Kagami’s arm and pulled just a little with a nervous laugh. “Um… come on, Taigacchi, the movie’s starting soon, we should probably go…”

Kagami turned his angry eyes onto Kise and they instantly softened at the sight of Kise’s nervous ones. Realization of the words that left his mouth hit him and all blood drained from his face. “Oh fuck,” he said under his breath.

Aomine’s eyes darkened dangerously and he took a step forward. “Yeah. Yeah, I am. _No one’s_ gonna treat Tetsu like shit while I’m here. That includes me. _And_ you.”

For a moment it looked like Aomine was going to continue forward, and Kise tightened his grip on Kagami’s arm for a moment, before he saw Kuroko put a hand on Aomine’s chest to stop him. The touch drew Aomine’s gaze to Kuroko, and he paused.

“You’re causing a scene. Please stop,” Kuroko said quietly, but firmly, and Aomine held his gaze for a while as he calmed.

“I—I’m sure Taigacchi didn’t mean to be mean to Kurokocchi, if that helps,” Kise piped up.

“I don’t give a shit what he _meant_ to do, he was still an asshole,” Aomine said to Kise. Then he turned to Kagami. “You’d better fuckin’ apologize to Tetsu. Or else.”

“Aomine-kun. Stop. It’s fine. If Kagami-kun doesn’t trust me enough to talk about these kinds of things, that’s his choice,” Kuroko told him, either not caring or not noticing Kagami go a bit pale at the last part.

Kise leaned over to Kagami, whispering, “Ohh~ Sounds like you’re in trouble~”

He was right, but Kagami elbowed him anyway. “Shut up,” he muttered, only glancing at him briefly before looking back to Kuroko. “Look, I’m sorry, alright? But can we talk about this later, when there _aren’t_ a million people around?”

“Depends,” Aomine said before Kuroko could respond, “do I get to be there so I can punch you in the face for being an asshole?”

“Daiki!” Kuroko said warningly.

Aomine froze.

“Ohhhh~ Aominecchi’s in trouble too!” Kise singsonged.

Aomine shot Kise a brief glare, but turned back to Kuroko. “Alright, I _won’t_ punch him. Okay?”

“Apologize for threatening to,” Kuroko replied. “Kagami-kun, apologize for encouraging him to punch you. And Kise-kun, you were rude to them, so you too.”

“Kurokocchiiiiiiiiii!” Kise whined, but shut his mouth tight when Kuroko directed a glance at him.

Aomine took the brief moment of silence that followed to get his apology over with. “Sorry. I promise I won’t _actually_ punch you in the face… but only because Tetsu still likes having you as a friend, for whatever reason.”

Kagami bristled at that last part, but forced himself not to respond to it, instead crossing his arms and saying “sorry” through gritted teeth.

“Sorry, Taigacchi. Sorry Aominecchi. I shouldn’t have commented on you being in trouble. I should have just silently watched. And probably not have laughed at you."

They were all really bad apologies, but Kuroko decided he would take them, because he didn't want to miss the movie or start another fight.

Unfortunately, the testing of everyone’s patience didn’t end there. After they’d all gotten snacks, they came to the realization that they were all going to the same movie. And then when they walked into the actual theater, Kagami and Aomine shooting each other nasty looks the whole way (...at least, whenever they thought Kuroko wasn’t looking), they found it to be very full… except for four adjacent seats in the second row.

* * *

Kuroko left with a headache partway through, and Aomine followed him a few minutes later, so when the movie ended, Kagami and Kise left the movie theater by themselves.

“So, you gonna go talk to Kurokocchi now?” Kise asked as they ambled down the street towards the train station. “He’s probably still pretty mad.”

Kagami ran a hand through his hair feeling much more tired than he had before he came. “I know he is. I’ll probably talk to him tomorrow. Well, that’s if he doesn’t just brush off everything I say and passive-aggressively ignores me the entire time.” Kagami was not making himself feel better.

Kise chuckled with just a hint of bitterness. “Yeah, he sure does that.” He paused and bit his lip for a moment—he would have liked to reassure Kagami that getting Kuroko’s forgiveness would be relatively quick and easy, as usual, but… “You _really_ shouldn’t have said that to Aominecchi.”

“I know,” Kagami groaned, “I wasn’t thinking and was being a dumbass. Aomine is just so fucking—ugh!”

“Yeah, he is,” Kise said with a nod and a bit of a smirk, then averted his eyes. “But… I mean… middle school messed him up. All of us, really, and—” He shrugged. “—well, it doesn’t excuse anything, I guess, but… he just doesn’t like to think about it. Especially not around Kurokocchi. Especially ‘cause being with Kurokocchi usually makes him closer to how he used to be before everything happened…” He drifted off, unsure of what his point was, but hoping it conveyed whatever it was he meant.

Kagami’s face softened and his body untensed as he released his anger at Kise’s words. “It hurt you a lot too, didn’t it?” he said softly. “I heard the story from Kuroko.”

Kise blinked a few times in surprise, opening and closing his mouth once before managing a reply. “I’m—well, yeah, I—I guess, but…” He’d tried to avoid it, but he found himself thinking about it anyway. Thinking about how he’d finally found something resembling happiness, and then watched it fall away, and then spent so many days wondering if all good things were just temporary and if he should just get used to it, and if maybe he just didn’t quite qualify as the type of person who deserved to have good things. ...So, it was a long few moments of silence before he continued, voice considerably softer, “...I’m fine now.” And he put on a little smile but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Kagami felt a stab of guilt and a troubled feeling in the middle of his chest that he couldn’t quite explain. Forgetting that they were still outside and in public eye, Kagami pulled Kise into his arms, and held him tightly to him, placing a gentle hand in Kise’s hair. “I’m sorry.” Without the hesitation he thought he’d have the first time he’d do this, he pressed a soft kiss to Kise’s temple.

Surprised, Kise tensed for a moment before returning the hug. And as he relaxed into Kagami’s arms, he also released his tight hold on his emotions, his heart pounding and his throat tight. And then Kagami kissed him and that really did it, that struck the final blow, and he felt a sudden warm affection blooming in his chest, but also felt tears burning behind his eyes, and squeezed them shut to try to hold them in. _Stop being stupid, you’re fine, you’re overreacting, this is stupid_ , he told himself, because every time this kind of thing happened and he got overwhelmed all it did was remind him how stupid and desperate he must be to feel like this. “I’m fine,” he insisted weakly into Kagami’s shoulder, trying his best to not let his voice shake.

Kagami gently stroked Kise’s hair, the tone of Kise’s quiet, nearly broken voice getting to him. “It’s okay,” he whispered softly near Kise’s ear. “You don’t have to be fine around me.” He didn’t feel tears build up but he did feel his throat constrict and his heart clench. Kise was _really_ getting to him, and he didn’t think he minded.

“Taigacchi…” Kise murmured, clenching his fists in the material of Kagami’s shirt as the tears began to spill silently. He spent a minute just breathing, letting the tears come but keeping them under control as much as he could, because it was one thing to sob obnoxiously when he was fake-crying, but it was another thing entirely to genuinely sob. He hated the feeling of losing that much control of himself, of letting his emotions grow so strong that he lost the ability to decide how much of them he showed externally.

After a few more minutes, the feeling of self-consciousness began to outweigh the need for comfort, and he lifted his quickly-warming face off of Kagami’s shoulder just enough to wipe at his tears with one sleeve. “This is so stupid,” he said with a self-deprecating chuckle once he was sure that he could speak without crying more. “I'm supposed to be over this. Things are okay now.”

Kagami lowered the hand in Kise’s hair down to his face, cupping it and moving him back slightly to look him in the eyes as he spoke. “But it still happened. Just ‘cause things are better now, doesn’t mean you can’t still be sad that shit happened.” Kagami could definitely say he understood that well, the chain and ring around his neck a heavy reminder of many things he’d rather forget.  

Kise leaned into the touch and looked up at Kagami with something like wonder, a little smile pulling at his lips without him even really noticing. He had always admired Kagami’s passion for basketball, and thought he was really cute, and also thoroughly enjoyed teasing him, and to Kise, all of that was enough reason to ask him out, if only just to see what would happen—how long it might go on before Kagami got annoyed or Kise got bored. But this—crying in Kagami’s arms about something he tried to never think about—well, it was unexpected, and it changed things a bit. He wasn't quite sure how, but he knew it would. So while he might have usually gone for some sort of teasing remark to bring things back into his comfort zone, at the moment, Kise just smiled up at Kagami and said quietly, “Thank you.”

Kagami had a feeling the side of Kise he was currently seeing wasn’t exactly one others got to see very often, if at all, and the thought that Kise was sharing that with him made him feel oddly warm inside. Kagami felt a small smile tug at his lips as he gave Kise a single nod in response. He pulled away from Kise and opted to hold his hand to keep some kind of connection between them. “Let’s go home,” he said softly.

Finally, a mischievous twinkle came back to Kise’s eyes (even as his heart skipped a beat from the gentle affection in Kagami’s voice). “Home? Are you inviting me to move in already, Taigacchi? That's awfully forward of you~”

For once, Kagami didn’t mind Kise acting like a little shit. His smile simply grew and he lightly bumped his shoulder against Kise’s. “Not happening. I don’t need your weird-ass fur clothes shedding in my closet. You can come over tonight if you want though.”

Kise grinned. “Sounds great!” And then he spent half the walk back lecturing Kagami on why his fur clothes were not “weird-ass” but rather “the height of modern fashion and you clearly just don't know enough to appreciate art, Taigacchi”, and by the end of the night his face hurt from smiling so much.

* * *

Kagami stopped Kuroko during lunch the next day at school, something that was a lot harder than it sounded considering Kuroko’s damned ability to just disappear. The fact that Kuroko was trying to avoid him didn’t help in the slightest. He grabbed Kuroko by the arm before he could leave the classroom and looked at him seriously. “At least let me apologize and explain.”

Kuroko stared for a moment, debating whether it would be worth it to escape and continue putting off this conversation, but ultimately conceded. “Okay,” he said shortly, looking at Kagami expectantly.

Kagami inwardly let out a sigh of relief. He got past the first step: getting Kuroko to stop ignoring him. “Okay, so… do you mind if we talk in the gym or something?” He had thought maybe the roof but ultimately, he felt more comfortable in the gym.

Kuroko arched an eyebrow at him. “If Kagami-kun’s plan is to explain through basketball, I think I would much rather sit in here and eat my lunch.”

“No—okay—I, uh… We can talk here. Just thought the gym would make it easier.” Kagami could already feel the foot in his mouth and he hadn’t even said that much yet. “Look. I’m sorry about what I said yesterday. I was being an ass.”

“Yes,” Kuroko said with a small nod.

Kagami wasn’t even surprised by Kuroko blunt, unsympathetic answer. He didn’t really think he deserved much sympathy anyway considering what he’d said. Memories of Kise crying on his shoulder for the same jackass words rushed through him before he quickly pushed them away. He wanted to be upfront with Kuroko about his relationship with Kise, not sappy about it. “About Kise...” he started, unsure of how to continue.

Kuroko considered staying silent and waiting for Kagami to figure out what to say, but seeing as this subject was rather far out of Kagami’s comfort zone, he figured at least a _little_ bit of sympathy was due here. “When did it start?” he prompted.

Kagami was inwardly thankful that Kuroko had said something because he was drawing a blank on where to start. “The day we ran away from Kise’s screaming stalkers. It just… sorta happened? I dunno. That night was just really weird in general.”

Sensing that there was probably a lot to this story, Kuroko sat back down at his desk and opened up his lunch. “I’m assuming Kise-kun started it?”

“Well I sure didn’t,” Kagami scoffed, “I don’t even know how it happened that night. One second I was about to throw him out of my apartment the next I somehow ended up saying yes to a date!” Kagami waved his arms around as if it would emphasize what he was saying.

Kuroko nodded sagely. “Talking with Kise-kun usually tends to end in an unexpected place. That’s why I mostly say ‘no’ and walk away before he can say anything.”

“Yeah well, we went on a date and I guess it wasn’t awful? Yesterday’s was just the second one.” Kagami realized the mistake of his admittance before Kuroko even answered him.

“...Second?” Kuroko repeated, eyebrows raised in confusion and then furrowed in disappointment.

“I, um—I mean yeah,” Kagami conceded, lowering his head in guilt, “It was our second one. I didn’t tell you about it ‘cause I wanted some time to figure how I felt about all of it.”

Kuroko looked at him for a moment, humming consideringly. He supposed he couldn't really blame Kagami for needing time to think when it came to someone like Kise. “So… how _do_ you feel about it?”

Kagami tensed at Kuroko's question. He had thought about it a lot, especially after last night, and while he was more sure of how he felt now than he was before, there was still some lingering confusion and questions running through his mind. He wasn't sure how to answer Kuroko’s question when he didn't even know how to answer his own, but he sure as hell wasn't going to lie about it like he had the first time. That was what had gotten him into this mess and he wasn't going to repeat his dumb mistake if he could help it. “I, uh, like him?” Kagami tried to start. “Or well, at least I'm pretty sure I do. I'm not too sure how it happened but I at least want to keep trying with d-dat… being with him.” The word was still too embarrassing for him to use or just say casually and he inwardly cursed the stupid blush rising to his face from attempting to.

A small half-smile of amusement pulled at Kuroko’s lips despite himself. “Be careful with that. Kise-kun’s ego is even more fragile than Aomine-kun’s,” he said, partly teasing but also a bit serious.

“And Aomine’s ego is as thick as toilet paper,” Kagami groaned planting his head on his desk. “I think Kise’s ego should be fine though since he takes like half the things I say as a compliment. I don’t even know how.”

Kuroko nodded again. “I once told him he was more clingy than a toddler and he thought I was calling him cute because I compared him to a child.”

“He would,” Kagami muttered before lifting his head up off his desk to turn to Kuroko seriously. “So… we good?”

Kuroko hesitated for a moment, his face growing serious as well. “Just… please choose your words more carefully next time. I did not entrust you with the story of our past so that you could use it against my friends when they irritate you,” he said, a steely protectiveness in his voice.

“I know.” Kagami looked away in guilt. “It was a dick move. You can count on it not happening again.” He didn’t think he could stand to not punch himself in the face if he ever said something dumb enough to get Kise to cry on his shoulder and make Kuroko have that look of betrayal again.

Kuroko allowed his face to relax into a more pleasant expression. “Then we are fine.” In a lighter tone, he added, “Of course, I'd also like updates on the Kise-kun situation. Not that I will force you if you'd prefer not to, however…” He gave a tiny half-smirk. “...you should know that, the moment the word ‘boyfriend’ is mentioned, you will have no remaining chance at privacy anyway.”

“Don’t remind me. The minute I tell Kise it’s okay to tell people about this, he’s gonna tell all of Japan.” Kagami’s face effectively met his desk again.

“I'm honestly impressed he hasn't already,” Kuroko commented, taking a sip of his drink. “He didn't even tell me. He must really like you, Kagami-kun.”

Just as Kagami felt his face start to cool down Kuroko had go and say embarrassing crap. “I, um… thanks?”

“Not to mention,” Kuroko continued musing as though Kagami hadn’t said anything, “Kise-kun is one of the most sexual people I know, and he doesn’t seem to be too bothered by the fact that you’re not.” He paused and tilted his head at Kagami. “Have the two of you talked about that yet?”

By this point Kagami wanted to just dig up a hole and bury himself in it because this conversation was getting _way_ too out of his comfort zone. “W-we haven’t but l—like I dunno, I don’t think I-I’ll mind it too much? I think!” Kagami felt the need for the emphasis.

Kuroko raised his eyebrows a bit. “And you must really like him, to be saying that. I'm very surprised this is the first anyone has heard of this at all.”

“I—wha—I mean, I _guess!_ ” Kagami spluttered, his face still planted on his desk. “Is there a reason why you feel like embarrassing the hell out of me right now?”

“Sorry,” Kuroko said, the look on his face more bemused than apologetic. “It's a very unexpected development.”

“I know,” Kagami grumbled. “It was unexpected for me too. I told you, it just _happened_.”

“You're glad it did though?” Kuroko said with the barest hint of a questioning tone and a small smile.

Sitting up and pulling his face off his desk, Kagami turned to Kuroko with a small smile of his own. “Yeah, I am.”

* * *

Kise had meant to stay awake for the whole movie, really, he had. He'd picked it out after all. But snuggled against Kagami's side and under a warm, fuzzy blanket, all it took was for him to lay his head down on Kagami's shoulder and close his eyes, and he was asleep in seconds.

Kagami had been busy trying to make sense of whatever was happening in the movie Kise picked and didn’t notice that he was the only one still watching it until he heard light snoring by his ear. He turned his head slightly to check and as he thought, Kise had fallen asleep. He couldn't really find it in him to be mad though, not with the peaceful expression Kise had. Kagami felt a small smile grace his lips as he caught himself staring. Leaning over slowly, Kagami pressed a small kiss to the top of Kise’s head.

The slight movement and touch slowly drew Kise back into awareness. He hummed in contentment, even more warm and cozy than he'd been when he'd drifted off, and then cracked open his eyes, blinking several times to clear the sleep from them. “Taigacchi…?” he mumbled vaguely.

Kagami felt his smile widen at the sight of Kise’s hazy eyes and sleep ridden voice. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you. If you’re tired you can go nap in my bed for a bit.” He could find something else to do if Kise did.

“Mm… but you’re more comfy than your bed,” Kise objected, pouting up at him.

“My arm’s gonna cramp up like this, y’know.” Kagami pulled Kise closer to him and rested his cheek on top of Kise’s head. “Not that I’m really complaining.”

“You just did though,” Kise pointed out, heaving a dramatic sigh and then adopting a pathetic, whiny tone. “Taigacchi doesn’t like me~”

Kagami scoffed, lifting his head off of Kise’s to look at him again. “If I didn’t like you, you wouldn’t be cuddled up next to me right now.”

“That’d be sad.” Kise put an arm around Kagami’s waist and pulled himself even closer, gazing up at Kagami and smiling as he felt his heart skip a beat with a rush of affection. “So I guess I’m pretty lucky you like me, then.”

“I guess. You can still be pretty annoying,” Kagami teased, lightly flicking Kise in the forehead. He quickly pressed a small kiss to the spot he’d flicked, knowing Kise would whine about him kissing it better either way.

Kagami’s lips were soft on his forehead, and Kise felt the sudden urge to know what it was like to kiss them—not for the first time, of course, but in this proximity, in this quiet moment of warm contentment, the desire was stronger than ever. So he brought a hand up behind Kagami’s head, threading his fingers through his hair and stopping him from moving back too far, and tore his gaze away from Kagami’s lips to look up into his eyes questioningly.

Kagami felt his breath hitch and his heart stop for a second. He knew Kise would want to do this eventually—he was actually surprised Kise had held out from doing so for so long. He felt all the nervousness and butterflies he knew he would the moment Kise would want to kiss but he hadn’t expected the anticipation to be there as well. He let that anticipation guide him and he found himself leaning in the rest of the way to connect their lips.

The kiss was slow and a little awkward, mostly due to Kagami’s inexperience. Kagami let Kise lead the kiss, letting him deepen it. Kagami was a little shaken by how good it felt. How nice it was to let Kise’s hand slide over his shoulder to rest on his chest and how nice it felt to pull Kise as close as possible. When they parted, both breathless and a little dazed, Kise was fully sitting on Kagami’s lap.

Kise sighed in contentment, lingering close for a moment before backing off a bit and watching Kagami’s face carefully as he asked, “Was… that okay?”

“Yeah,” Kagami was still a little hazy so his answer came out as more of a sigh.

A smile of relief crossed Kise’s face, and his heartbeat began picking back up again in excitement as he start to lean in again. “...Can I do it again?”

Kagami smiled, bringing a hand up to cup Kise’s face. He stroked his cheek lightly with his thumb, already pulling Kise back towards him. “Yes,” he whispered against Kise’s lips.

So Kise kissed him again.


End file.
